Amateur Photographer Magazine

Amateur Photographer Monthly forum photography competition. Winners for Jan 2010

Friday 26th February 2010

Damien Demolder

Opposites

I thought we'd start the year with a theme that seemed straight forward. And it is straight forward, in the sense that there can't be much discussion about what was required. Of course though, it is anything but easy, as it almost certainly meant you had to go out and shoot something specifically for it. We often use opposites in our photography, but usually to complement the subject – we like to call them 'contrasting elements'. Here though opposites are the subject, and you have done really well to put together such an excellent selection of images. This theme really has asked you to be imaginative – I'm glad to say you rose to the challenge very well indeed.



This year's competition is being supported by Samsung, and this month's first prize is the Samsung ST550 compact camera with dual LCD screens - one on the front as well as the back, and 12 million pixels. This is the Amateur Photographer Compact Camera of the Year 2010. The second and third placed winners will receive a wonderful Amateur Photographer Loves My Pictures mug.



I've made a short list of those images I thought had winning potential, but special mentions this month must go to bob58, silentbutdeadly, nycmarcos, Adam_Charles1 and maris – though I have to say there are many more that deserve extra praise for their efforts.

On to the winners:



3rd place Emmamac for Small and Big.

It really was difficult to separate out the top three this month, even when I had managed to select them from the ten or so potential winners, but all along I knew this one would be in the top three. There is such a sense of contrast in this picture that it nearly took my breath away. The scale the little old lady brings to the scene really allows us to appreciate the size of the stone structure, and the three dimensional rear-side lighting that brings out the shapes so well adds to the immediacy of the opposing nature of the subjects. Emma's timing has been perfect, and the framing exactly what was needed. This is an excellent image that is visually amazing and it fits the brief so well.



2nd place Hazem for the leader and the follower

Shown under a theme of 'Opposites' one begins to question the loyalty of the soldier to his master – do they have opposing views, is it that they are simply at opposing ends of the spectrum of influence or are we seeing the visualisation of the word and the action? Either way, there is so much to see and think about in this image that I found myself looking at it for quite some time. I love the different expressions – the ideal and the reality – and the perfect use of depth of field that directs the eye. An exceptional piece of work.



1st place Ian_A for Black and White - in colour…

What a clever picture, and what a neat interpretation of the theme! The contrasting horses immediately catch the eye, but then we can spend time admiring the contrast of the snow and the hay, the trees branches against the white-out background – plus enjoy the very real atmosphere. I love that we can see the snow still falling and that there are spots on the lens like droplets caught in our eyelashes. It is all so real, and yet seems so unlikely at the same time that these two horses should share their space on a day like this. It's a beautiful image.

Well, what a fantastic start to the year – on your part anyway – and I really hope we can keep this quality up for the next eleven months. These are a most enjoyable set of pictures, so well done to everyone that found the time and creative energy to enter.

Thanks

Damien

Just to remind you - we have an excellent Gallery section in the magazine every week and you should be sending in your pictures for publication in it. If the standard of many of the shortlisted this and most months is anything to go by you will be more than capable of getting a place. We pay, and you could win a prize!!

Have a look here to find out how to submit

I hope you can all find the time to enter the February 2010 round too.

Click the links to see all the Amateur Photographer forum photographic competition entries for January and here to read the January forum photographic competition discussion thread.

This is where you'll find all the rest of the year's Amateur Photographer forum photographic competitions and discussion threads.

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